The Wipptal, from Innsbruck to Vipiteno/Sterzing via the Brenner

La wipptal is the name given to two valleys separated by the Brenne Passr. To the north, on the Tyrol side, the Wipptal is the Sill valley, between Brenner and InnsbruckTo the south, the Wipptal is the Isarco (Eisack) valley between Brenner and Bressanone/Brixen.

This passageway used by the Romans, then in the Middle Ages and still today constitutes a very important axis for the transport of goods and people between Northern Europe and Southern Europe.

The Brenner Motorway allows you to cross it in the blink of an eye, but we will take the time to discover it as well as the side valleys of the Brenner by back roads.

Let's go and discover the wipptal.

From Innsbruck to Matrei am Brenner: the Ellbögen road.

For this first part of the climb up the Sill, we could have taken the road to Burner. The same one that passes through Schönberg and that we cited in the article about the Stubaital. But for this article, let's go through the Igls and Patsch plateau instead.

Why? Because it gives us the opportunity to travel, at least in part, the old salt route, Ellbögen road. This started from the salt mines of Hall in Tirol towards Italy. Along this route, the salt was transported by farmers who put their horses to work and received a commission. At each stage, large farms served as inns, warehouses and stables. Which explains why they are still so large today. The wealth of the villages in the valley can be seen in the decoration of the facades.

On the plateau dominated by the Patscherkofel, which peaks at over 2200 meters, there are several villages on a balcony site overlooking the Inn Valley and the city of Innsbruck. The Patscherkofel is a renowned ski and tobogganing center in the surroundings of Innsbruck. Just like on the other side of the Sill, Axams, with the Axamer Lizum site. On this side, the departure station of the gondola is on the road between Lans and Patsch and no longer in Igls as until a few years ago.

The village of Patch, at an altitude of 1000 metres, offers magnificent views of the Nordkette, the mountain barrier that serves as a backdrop to Innsbruck, the city, the Inn Valley and opposite the Stubaital..

The road continues on a balcony above the Sill, whose course has deeply carved the valley and runs strongly in a north-south direction, that of the wipptal.

Step by step Ellbögen. Small village on the salt route. There are the famous very large farms. There are only a few houses, and the tourist offer is limited to hiking and cycling in summer, and snowshoeing in the neighboring ViggartalIts position, dominating the valley, gives it both a pleasant luminosity and a still very vast landscape.

It is after Ellbögen that the road gradually returns to the bed of the torrent, in the immediate vicinity of Matrei am Brenner.

The facades decorated with Matrei am Brenner in the Wipptal

Matrei am Brenner lines up its richly decorated facades along the main road. Which is a shame because we don't really have time to enjoy it. We will see later that Sterzing/Sterzing, our destination has a bit of the same characteristic, but there they decided to make it a pedestrian street and divert the road to go around the village. There is also more space in Vipiteno/Sterzing. You can feel that medieval atmosphere that must have characterized this important town on the road to Brenner Pass.

From Matrei, the wipptal has lost some of its majesty because the high peaks are no longer visible, hidden by the first hilly and wooded foothills that block the view. At an altitude of 1000 metres, crossed by a motorway, a road and a railway, this part of the Wipptal is not very touristy. On the other hand, in the immediate vicinity, the Navistal on one side and the road to the former monastery of Maria Waldrast on the other are worth a detour.

La Navistal is a valley of about ten kilometers, which ends in a dead end surrounded by peaks that culminate between 2500 and 2800 meters. The climb, in hairpin bends, allows you to quickly reach the south-facing slope. This is where the hamlets have taken up residence. Opposite, a very dense forest of fir trees climbs the slopes to a very high altitude. To enjoy the landscape, you must stay on the upper road, "oberweg", until NavisIn winter, a small ski lift takes you down a small slope and there is also a toboggan run. In summer, hikes lead to the peaks west of the Tux Alps.

On the other side of the Sill, an old road leads through the forest towards Maria Waldrast Monastery. Today, the chapel is still a pilgrimage destination, while the main building has been converted into a hotel. The site is remarkable, on a pass, at the foot of the Serles, emblematic summit of the Stubaital.. In fact, this pass connected, in time Matrei and the Brenner road with the Stubaital. The church was built in honor of the Virgin, to house a Statuette miraculously appeared in the trunk of a treeThe place attracted so many vagabonds and thieves who robbed pilgrims that the statuette was taken back down to Mieders (Stubaital) before being brought back in the middle of the 19th century.

We continue our journey up the Wipptal to Steinach am Brenner.

Steinach am Brenner and Gries am Brenner, the last villages of the Wipptal in Tyrol

Steinach am Brenner, at an altitude of 1000 meters, occupies a larger basin at the crossroads of the wipptal and Gschnitztal. Unfortunately a high viaduct on the Brenner road spoils the landscape by dominating the village but the site remains green and pleasant if we ignore this detail. Under the viaduct is the departure station of a gondola lift that serves the Bergeralm slopes: a small ski area that culminates at 2231 meters at the top of the Nösslachjoch. At the summit there are a few blue slopes, otherwise most of the 30 km of slopes and a red or black level. The view from the summit is remarkable over the Wipptal to the Nordkette which dominates Innsbruck and of course also towards the Brenner gap. The summit also dominates the Gschnitztal, the subject of the next paragraph.

The village of Steinach is a small renovated village, with typical Tyrolean colored houses, but without any remarkable site to visit. On the other hand, it is an excellent stopover point for staying in the Wipptal, close to the highway, the train station and the beautiful side valleys that lead to the Wipptal: the Gschnitztal, Schmirntal and Valsertal.

Gries am Brenner, the last Austrian village before the border, is also a small hamlet without any remarkable site but which gives access to the beautiful valley of Obernbergtal.

The side valleys of the Wipptal

Going up from Innsbruck towards the Brenner along the wipptal, crossed in its heart by the Sill torrent, we come across the mouth of many side valleys. The first, the most touristic of all, is the Stubaital., barred at its end by glaciers surrounded by peaks over 3000 meters above sea level. An article on this blog is entirely dedicated to it, you can read it by following this link.

Then, at the level of Matrei, on the opposite side, the Navistal heads towards the Tux Alps.

Parallel or almost to the Stubaital, but starting from Steinach am Brenner, it is the Gschnitztal which runs into the mountains towards the border with Italy and the upper part of the Stubaital, without any pass suitable for vehicles having been opened.

La Gschnitztal is a very beautiful valley, whose flat bottom, from the village of Trins, which is in a balcony position to the southern sun, allows for magnificent hikes or cross-country skiing outings. Alpine skiing is practiced on the Bergeralm From Steinach, just below Trins, and over the fifteen kilometres of the valley, up to Obertal at an altitude of 1250 metres, silence and calm reign.

The village of Gschnitz, which gave its name to the valley, is a pretty village stretched out along the edge of the sharp teeth of the Ilmspitze and Kirchdachspitze, dolomite-like peaks which dominate the valley laterally.

On the other hand, at the bottom of the valley, there are peaks over 3000 metres high with some of the glaciers of the Stubai Alps that can be seen.

Fields and pastures slope up towards the scree slopes of the south-facing slope, while very dense forests cover the slopes of the north-facing slope.

If you leave the small village of Gschnitz and its houses with decorated facades towards the bottom of the valley, you end up at the end of the road, in Obertal, on an old hamlet which recreates the life of an old mill complex (Mühlendorf). Located under a waterfall formed by the Sandesbach torrent, the mills are powered by canals that have diverted the water from the torrent so that it can be used for various craft works. It is a museum that is open in the summer and has a crazy charm in winter, covered in snow and ice.

Further on, the forests cover the valley and restore its wild aspect. Hikers will be delighted to enter it to find further on the road of the old passes used by merchants and farmers.

In winter, Gschnitz is a cross-country skiing centre.

Let's return to the Wipptal, to discover a new side valley on the opposite slope.

Upstream Steinach, at St Jodok am Brenner, we reach a new junction of two valleys: the Valsertal and the Schmirntal. Both end their course under the massif which carries the Tux glacier, accessible from the Zillertal, which we discussed in a dedicated article.

In the past, these valleys were crossing points to go from one valley to another, today, by losing this role, they have been able to preserve their authenticity.

St Jodok is located in a loop of the Brenner railway line, and it is by crossing this line that one enters the Vals valley (Valsertal).

La Valsertal is relatively narrow but bright thanks to its southern orientation. You quickly reach the Vals settlement, whose beautiful traditional houses with white facades covered in the upper part by wood rest in the middle of fields surrounded by forests. In the background, the snow of the border ridge with Italy (Val di Vizze) dominates the landscape. The end of the valley, Innervals, at almost 1400 meters above sea level, is the entry point to the Valsertal Natura 2000 reserve : a vast basin covered with flowery meadows, under the snow-capped mountains which peak at 3000 meters. In winter you can discover the pleasure of snowshoeing, in the sun, in absolute silence.

It is a bit of the same landscape that we discover at the bottom of the other valley that we can explore from St Jokob: the Schmirntal. At the very end, the town Madern-Ladins, at an altitude of 1600 metres, surrounded by larches, is the starting point for many hikes towards the peaks of the Tux Alps. In particular, the Kaserer Winkl Valley which runs at right angles to the Schmirntal in an environment of absolute calm. These are valleys rarely visited by tourists in a hurry: ideal for enjoying authentic Tyrolean mountain scenery. Before reaching Madern, the road climbs gently from St Jokob, crossing pretty little villages such as Entwasser and then Schmirn. These villages are quite steep, close to the forests and the stream that flows in the heart of the valley and do not offer clear views. It is only from the side of Toldern that the valley widens out. Many paths then allow you to start walking and discover increasingly vast landscapes. The Schmirntal is a pleasant and sunny valley that is worth a visit.

The last side valley is on the same side of the Wipptal as the Stubaital and the Gschnitztal, that is, on the right, going up towards the Brenner. It is accessed from Gries am Brenner : this is Obernbergtal. A favorite for this little valley.

The Obernbergtal sinks into the Tribulaune massif, which peaks at around 2900 metres, and runs along the Italian border. The relief is gentler than in the rest of the Wipptal, with very wooded slopes. Towards the village ofObernberg, long and scattered around the main road, the valley widens and lets the sun bathe the fields. In the background, we can see the high mountains of Tribulaun with their rocky walls. Old farms with traditional architecture follow houses with typical decorations. Here, there is no mass tourism or overtourism. It is a preserved valley that only attracts hikers.

Incidentally, it is at the end of the road, where a paid parking lot marks the end of the civilized world, that nature begins. A forest path – which becomes a toboggan run in winter – climbs through the mountain pastures to a small mountain lake created by a landslide. TheObernbergsee is surrounded by forests and in its middle stands a charming chapel, with an extremely decorated interior, as you only find in Tyrol! A haven of peace, serenity and meditation in the middle of nature.

The hiking trails then gain altitude towards the high passes that mark the border.

THEObernbergtal is a quiet little gem near one of the most popular passes in the Alps. It's a great idea for a break on the way between Italy and Germany!

The Wipptal in Italy, between Brenner and Vipiteno/Sterzing

If the name Brenner evokes the crossing of the Alps, holidays, or in any case a trip, the village itself Burner is not really a tourist destination.

Wedged between the mountain, the highway and the railway, this small Italian village is made up of two small parallel streets, along which are lined shops, outlets and administrative buildings. Unless you want to stock up or take advantage of the sales, you should avoid lingering there. Let's start to enter the South Tyrol.

A little further down, the Brenner Thermal Baths is a rather special place. Today, only a bottling plant remains of the St. Zacharie spring, a mineral water known since the Middle Ages for its healing properties. The Tyrolean tales, then the playwright Ibsen and the musician Strauss came here. In the Belle Époque, there was a grand hotel and the train stop. Today, with the motorway passing right through the middle of the narrow valley, the site can no longer be offered for spa treatments, but the water is bottled and sold as mineral water.

We must reach the next Italian village, Colle Isarco (Guttersass in German), to find a pretty little village with a tourist vocation. Built on the old Roman road, clinging to a hill, it is today a small center which develops its activity around mountain sports in the neighboring Val di Fleres / Pflerschtal. It benefits from the presence of a railway station. The ski area of Ladurns welcomes skiers at the height of Lasta, in a very wooded and remote valley. From the summits, the landscapes on the border ridge of the Tyrol, with the Obernbergtal is remarkable.

A few kilometres further on, at an altitude of 950 metres, you arrive at Vipiteno/Sterzing.

The village is located in a very large basin formed by the wipptal, crossed by the waters of theIsarco (Eisack), Val di Vizze / Pfitschertal, Val Ridanna/ Ridnauntal and Val Racines / Ratschingstal.

It is at a pretty crossroads, surrounded on one side by the motorway and on the other by the railway that the village of Vipiteno has developed over time.

Vipiteno, or Sterzing in German immediately charms with its medieval atmosphere and its alpine setting. A former prosperous mining town under the Counts of Tyrol, it owes its development to the exploitation of silver and copper, as well as to its strategic position on the commercial axis linking Italy and the German Empire. Today, strolling through its narrow streets, lined with houses with colorful facades, pastel tones and oriel windows, is like going back in time to the era when merchants and craftsmen animated its squares. The historic heart is centered around the Stadtplatz, dominated by the elegant Tower of the Twelve, a vestige of the medieval wall and emblem of the city. On one side, the central pedestrian street is called Città Vecchia (Old Town) and on the other side it is Città Nuova (New Town). In reality, this central street, which has become pedestrianized, is very homogeneous from an architectural point of view, with colorful facades decorating the narrow houses stuck to each other as if Matrei am Brenner, but in a much more harmonious and friendly way.

Easily accessible by train or motorway, Sterzing/Sterzing is undoubtedly an excellent place to stay or stopover to discover the northern part of the South Tyrol and the Italian Wipptal to the beautiful town of Bressanone/Brixen.

La wipptal, much more than a simple passage axis between the north and the south of Europe, reveals to those who take the time to explore it a mosaic of landscapes and preserved alpine traditions. On both sides of the Burner, this valley and its many ramifications reveal villages with discreet charm, wild side valleys and sites steeped in history where Germanic and Italian influences intersect. Although the motorway and the railway cross it in a straight line, you have to take the back roads to grasp all its richness: picturesque hamlets, silent hiking trails, isolated chapels and old coaching inns bear witness to a past where travel was done to the rhythm of the seasons and trade. Whether you follow the wooded slopes of the Schmirntal, the bright mountain pastures of Obernbergtal or that we stroll in the lively alleys of Vipiteno, the Wipptal reveals itself as a welcoming land where the mountains can be appreciated in all their diversity.

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